Dental handpieces, such as drills and the like, and other medical or treatment hand instruments are often driven by compressed air. The drive air for such handpieces has been conventionally controlled in part by a foot controller mechanism conveniently placed on the floor next to a treatment chair containing a patient for operation by the foot of a dentist or other person treating the patient to leave the hands free for treatment of the patient. These foot controllers are utilized to control the amount of drive air transmitted to the handpiece for controlling the speed of operation of the handpiece. Additionally, air driven dental drill handpieces often have provisions therein for emitting coolant water and chip air for cleaning of debris from the teeth of a patient following the drilling operation performed by the handpiece. Foot controllers have also been utilized for controlling such coolant water and chip air through the dental handpiece.
Present foot controller mechanisms are more conventionally direct acting in that the compressed air which drives the air driven handpiece goes into the foot controller and is regulated at that point by the foot controller for providing a desired flow of compressed air to the handpiece. Also, switches are activated in the foot controller to turn on and off the coolant water and chip air. Thus, the more conventional foot controllers are, of necessity, fairly large devices in that they must contain the regulator valves, switches and associated plumbing for the drive air, and chip air and coolant water when utilized. The conduits to and from these foot controllers must be fairly large to contain sufficiently sized air lines in and out of the foot controllers for accommodating the amount of compressed air necessary for the handpiece. Accordingly, the dentists or operators have found these foot controllers and associated conduits to be burdensome and a hindrance to their mobility due to the size and bulk, etc. thereof.
Although foot controllers have been suggested which do not include the large conduits and air regulators directly in the foot controller and attempt to remotely control such air regulator devices positioned at a distant location, these foot controllers for remotely controlling the drive air, and the chip air and coolant water when utilized, have been complicated in design, subject to malfunctioning and required considerable maintenance due to the complicated electrical or mechanical mechanisms contained within the foot controller device.